August 2011

August 18, 2011

Is traditional media worth your advertising dollars anymore? Many people hold the presumption that it’s on life support and will soon become obsolete. Although in some cases usage has declined, putting it on life support would be a bit dramatic.

In fact, good ol’ reliable traditional media is very much alive. For example, 93% of Americans still listen to the radio. And viewership of traditional media’s biggest hitter, TV, has actually increased. Ninety-eight percent of people 12 and up watch TV every week.

Our agency has recently experienced a firsthand account of what traditional media is capable of. July is typically a soft month in sales for one of our clients. In an attempt to counteract this trend, we implemented a promotional offer only good during the month of July. To advertise this promotion we used television as our primary medium and print as secondary. The results brought our client record sales for July, making it the best July and second best month in company history. Based on this positive and anomalous deviation in sales trends for our client, we can determine that traditional media, when used effectively, is still a powerhouse player in media.

The takeaway message is this, history shows that traditional media has proven to be very adaptable to our constantly evolving society. The younger forms of media like web, social and mobile have definitely been useful and have made a large impact on the industry, but eventually they too will be threatened by a newer form of media, forcing them to either successfully evolve and adapt like the rest of the traditional mediums in use today, or fail and become obsolete. Until traditional media loses its adaptability and fails to meet the wants, needs and tastes of a modern society, it will continue to be a vital form of media.

August 5, 2011

As Andrew mentioned in his overly-complimentary post from yesterday, today is my last day at ADwërks after more than a year of fun, learning, and getting to contribute to some killer work. Calling it a good year would be an egregious understatement.

However, since it is my last day, I thought it would only be fair to share some of the lessons I’ve learned since I began my tenure here at ADwërks. So for those of you interested in the inside scoop, here you go.

Jim knows more about making food than most people know about eating food.

Jim also knows more about making advertising than most people know about seeing advertising.

If you bring a lunch, don’t eat it until after 1:00; you never know when Jim will randomly take the entire team to Taste of the Big Apple or Jacky’s.

If you hate laughter, odds are you won’t fit in at ADwërks.

If you hate working hard, odds are you won’t fit in at ADwërks.

Some days, a clown named Ronald might just wander into the office, sing “Tomorrow” from Annie at the top of his lungs, then leave. These are the perks of having McDonald’s as a client.

It’s ok if you’re not good at golf. In most cases it’s expected.

ALWAYS support your clients outside of the office. Because if you aren’t willing to use their service, buy their product or eat at their restaurant, why are you doing work for them?

People are fascinated by our historic building. At least one person a week stops in “just to take a look at it.” (And another two ask if this the cupcake place.)

It’s ok if you make mistakes. Just make sure you’re willing to fix them once they’re made.

Awards are nice. But a loyal, more-than-satisfied client who has been with you longer than your business has even had a name trumps awards 10 times out of 10.

ADwërks started with a single employee in a spare bedroom and lots of hard work. The office may be bigger, but the work effort is as relentless as when things started. And everyone seems to like it that way.

With only 8 or 9 people in the office at any given time, almost everyone does a variety of work for just about every client. I like to call it “diversifying your skill set.”

Did I mention that if you don’t like laughter, you probably won’t fit in at ADwërks?

If you want to learn, grow as a marketer, and put that newfound knowledge to good fantastic use, ADwërks is the place to be.

This list could’ve been another 30 bullet points longer, but one other thing I’ve learned in my time here is the importance of brevity. (Clearly, I’m still working on it.)

All in all, I couldn’t be more thankful for the opportunity I’ve had to work with this ADwërks crew. Every person working here has a wealth of knowledge and a passion for sharing that knowledge, and it has truly been inspiring to come in every day and work with people who love doing what they do. I’ve never worked in an environment quite like ADwërks and I doubt I ever will again.

Thanks to everyone here at ADwërks for the past year. Each of you has helped me get better at what I do and it’s been an experience I’ll remember forever. Or at least 30-40 years. But probably forever.

August 4, 2011

August 5th marks the last day our heroic Captain Content (otherwise known as Mike Billeter) will be hand crafting marketing solutions at ADwërks.

He and his wife, Lindsie, are moving to Springfield, Missouri where she will pursue a degree in Christian counseling. Meanwhile, Captain Content will be scouring the city looking to protect advertising agencies from villainous marketing problems or to save them from treacherous writer’s block. In other words, he’s looking for a job.

The strategy he’s using for marketing himself to the Springfield job market speaks for his overall advertising and marketing skills – like his writing talent, creative strategies, and sturdy thoroughness (and much more). And as always, he throws in a dash of humor and a pinch of the Billeter wit. Perhaps the most interesting thing he’s done so far to market himself is launching this website hiremikebilleter.com where prospective employers can view his work/writing samples, look at his résumé, and most importantly, connect with him. And Mike draws them in right away with the headline, “Can you live with yourself if someone else hires him first?” – Brilliant, Mike.

ADwërks will truly miss Mike and all the talents and skills that are included in the Captain Content package. But we are confident that he will continue to succeed in his career and we wish him all the best. And to all of Mike’s prospective employers in Springfield, if you’d rather not receive a cake that says “hiremikebilleter.com” in icing, you can also reach him here, twitter.com/mikebilleter, and here, www.facebook.com/mikebilleter, oh, and here linkedin.com/in/mikebilleter.

Although Mike will no longer be employed by ADwërks, in a way, he will always be an ADwërker. Go get ‘em Mike!

Who the?

We are ADwërks.

We are advertising, media and marketing communications professionals. We are not a large advertising agency. We don’t want to be. We would much rather create handcrafted advertising and marketing communications strategies for a few very special clients than crank out a whole bunch of mediocre work for every advertiser with a pulse and checkbook.